Effect of Music as a Non-Pharmacological Intervention on Dental Anxiety and Physiological Parameters During Root Canal Treatment: A Prospective Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial.

This prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial aims to evaluate the effect of music on dental anxiety and physiological parameters during root canal treatment. The study hypothesizes that music significantly reduces pulse rates and anxiety scores and improves comfort during the procedure. A total of 100 adults aged 35 to 50 years requiring single-visit root canal treatment, with ASA I or II and willingness to provide written informed consent. Exclusion criteria include hearing impairment, known psychiatric illness, unstable cardiovascular disease, and current use of sedatives and anxiolytics. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a music group, which will listen to relaxing instrumental music with ambient nature sounds through wireless earphones initiated 5 minutes prior to the treatment and continuing throughout, along with standard root canal treatment, or to a control group, which will receive the standard root canal treatment without music exposure. Pulse rate and oxygen saturation will be recorded at three time points: before treatment, during instrumentation, and after treatment. Anxiety scores will be measured before the treatment using a Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), and postoperative experience questionnaire will be measured after the treatment using a five-point Likert scale. The primary outcome is the change in pulse rate, and secondary outcomes include anxiety scores, oxygen saturation, and postoperative experience levels. The study expects music to reduce dental anxiety and physiological parameters and improve patient comfort during root canal treatment.